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From RTVAguaCabra:
Days Passes Without Footprint By La Oliva
TOURISM AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Or popcorn, or threads, or cotufas are fossil algae ... The "Days Go By La Oliva No Footprint" promote majorero protect the secrets of the landscape
The Department of Tourism of the City of La Oliva yesterday organized a talk with experts from this campaign, which continues with more activities aimed at residents and tourists
On the north coast of Fuerteventura there is a beach that has gone viral with the hashtag #PopCornBeach, for its sand in the form of popcorn, threads or popcorn, depending on who names it, but in reality it is calcareous algae, fossils called rhodoliths, which have a great value and which unfortunately are being stolen.
To prevent this type of damage that is being repeated in this and other areas of great natural value, the City of La Oliva has launched the campaign "Pass without trace by La Oliva", which promotes the Department of Tourism with the collaboration of the Telesforo Bravo Foundation, and that yesterday began with informative days in the Auditorium of Corralejo.
The mayor of La Oliva, Isaí Blanco, explained that "many times, without realizing it, we are damaging the territory with mounds of stone, or damaging the natural and cultural heritage with inscriptions in areas of geological and paleontological value, which is impossible recover".
Sandra González, Councilor for Tourism, said that the campaign is aimed at both residents and tourists, with specific actions for them. "For example, yesterday we began with talks to schoolchildren, and we will continue in this line, working with the tourism sector and the local population, because we would like this campaign to spread throughout the island."
Damage to the territory
In addition to the algae beach, other damages have recently been recorded that have seriously affected the landscape, such as incisions and drawings in the pyroclastic layers of the Caldera Slice of the Bayuyo Volcano, recorded in the sand paleosols of the Barranco de Los Enamorados , blocks torn from the archaeological site of the Tindaya podomorphs, or the innumerable stone mounds in El Tostón Lighthouse in El Cotillo, and many other places.
Understand and protect the landscape
Among the speakers who spoke yesterday at the conference, the biologist and soil scientist Miguel Torres spoke about the importance of conserving the soils of Fuerteventura to avoid erosion, keeping the rocks in place so as not to alter the natural erosion process. "The Majorero landscape is arid and sparsely populated, as there is no vegetation, any mark on the land takes thousands of years to regenerate, so soil is as important as water, human activity, agriculture and livestock or building in Fuerteventura," he said. Towers.
He explained that the most serious environmental problem that Fuerteventura has is the loss of sand on the coast, "due to its evident economic repercussion", and exposed the specific cases of the La Barca beach, in Sotavento (Costa Calma), or the obvious setback of the Dunes of Corralejo, in his opinion, by the interruption of the flow of wind and currents caused by the pier and the buildings of Corralejo.
María Esther Martín, biologist and curator of biology and paleontology at the Museum of Nature of the Cabildo de Tenerife, one of the few paleontology experts in the Canary Islands, toured the most interesting values of Fuerteventura. He explained that although they are not known, in Fuerteventura there are 172 paleontological deposits, and that 57 are in La Oliva, among them volcanic tubes, dunes, fossil beaches, underwater sediments of millions of years ...
Exploring paleontology in Fuerteventura has allowed the discovery of unknown species, "three new species of limpets have been described, as well as hedgehogs, snakes, owls," all of them extinct animals found in rocks and on the ground ".
Jaime Coello Bravo, jurist and environmental promoter, and director of the Telesforo Bravo Foundation, presented his lecture entitled "Leave the stones in their place: the heaps of stones, a global problem", taking a tour of this problem all over the world. The phenomenon is called in English "rock stacking", not only happens in Fuerteventura and the Canary Islands, but also in Scotland, the United States, Italy, Reunion Island in France, in Aruba ... ".
Finally, the professional tour guide Félix de la Rosa, partner of the company Oditen (One Day in Tenerife) and member of the Provincial Association of Guides of Tenerife (APIT), explained how the modification of the environment by visitors is a common problem in his work, for example in the National Park of the Cañadas del Teide. He spoke about his work of raising awareness for tourists, and the importance of establishing collaboration mechanisms between administrations.
Campaign "Pass without trace by La Oliva"
Unfortunately, the appearance of artificial elements, typical of human activity, in the natural environment is becoming more common. The proliferation of stone mounds, graffiti, inscriptions or engravings, can be seriously damaging, without the author's knowledge, spaces of natural or scenic value, archaeological sites, or goods of cultural interest.
To try to avoid and prevent this situation, the City Council of La Oliva and the Telesforo Bravo Juan Coello Foundation have reached a collaboration agreement to organize an awareness campaign aimed at both tourists and residents.
This campaign directed from the Department of Tourism includes awareness actions such as informative talks for the local population, information for tourists, or signage to warn visitors.
The Fundación Telesforo Bravo Juan Coello, organization of scientific and cultural scope, has already developed similar actions in other points of the Canary Islands, although it is the first time that a public administration of the archipelago, in this case the City Council of La Oliva, directly implies to solve this problem.
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